KKR says it will open its first Canadian office next month in Calgary, the capital of Canada's oil patch, as it seeks to tap into growing demand for private-equity financing in the region and expand its presence in the global energy industry.

KKR Director Brandon Freiman, who will relocate from the NYC headquarters to start up the new office, is eyeing investment of $500M to "several billion dollars" over the next five years in upstream oil and gas production, midstream pipelines and related infrastructure as well as energy services businesses.

The planned investments will include providing financing instead of outright takeovers, KKR says.

While 2014 is seen as an investment spending year at McDonald's (MCD), at least one analyst was reassured by the recent analyst day presentation which balanced discussions about growth and capacity initiatives with talk about returning value to shareholders.

Growth in Alberta potentially could take a back seat to offshore development on the east coast, where STO this year made a 600M barrel discovery at its Bay du Nord prospect.

STO's caution in the oil sands mirrors more conservative strategies unveiled recently by others such as Cenovus (CVE) and Suncor (SU); with uncertainty over pipelines, companies are eschewing large budgets and seeking to better align cash flow with expenses.

The U.S. decision on the Keystone XL pipeline is becoming more critical for oil sands producers such as Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) and Suncor (SU) than pipeline builder TransCanada (TRP); for producers, Keystone is the earliest export line scheduled to ease bottlenecks which have helped push Canadian heavy crude $27/bbl below the U.S. benchmark.

CNQ, with 120K bbl/day of capacity booked on Keystone XL, may gain 5% while other producers such as SU, Cenovus (CVE), Husky Energy (HUSKF) and Imperial Oil (IMO) may rise if the State Department’s review is positive, Cormark predicts, while a negative report could spur a 3% drop for CNQ.

On the other hand, Keystone XL is only worth C$1.50 to TRP shares whether or not the project is approved, as the company has invested in other projects, according to some analysts.

The firm considers ConocoPhillips (COP) a top name to buy and a great total return play for investors, and it likes Hess (HES), Marathon Oil (MRO), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Suncor (SU) and Cenovus (CVE); it's much less excited about Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).

Western Canada's first crude-by-rail unit train terminal is set to start transporting 50K bbl/day of oil sands crude to the U.S. market next month, the CEO of operating company Canexus says.

The terminal in Bruderheim, Alberta, which will be expanded to 100K bbl/day by late next year as a second supply pipeline is connected, initially will load only dilbit oil - heavy bitumen crude mixed with light condensate.

For now, Canada's oil sands area is served only by manifest trains hauling smaller loads - not cost-effective - but ~550K bbl/day of unit-train crude-by-rail projects are due to start up in western Canada by year-end 2014.

MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK) says the terminal will allow it to ship all of its 30K-35K bbl/day of production by rail to its main market in the U.S. midwest; Cenovus Energy (CVE) also is signed up as a shipper.

A U.S. rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline (TRP) could defer 300K bbl/day of oil sands growth during 2015-17, shaving $1.8B from planned capital expenditures and pushing as much as $7.8B in spending on oilfield services beyond 2018, according to an RBC Capital report.

Newer projects set to come online after 2016-17 could be deferred if Keystone isn't approved, but the overall impact likely would be mitigated by use of rail and competing pipelines, and producers such as Suncor Energy (SU), MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK) and Cenovus (CVE) which already have plowed billions into expansions of existing projects are hardly expected to change course.

RBC echoes the emerging consensus view that bitumen growth is likely to continue regardless of the ultimate Keystone verdict.

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Cenovus Energy (CVE) and Imperial Oil (IMO) - with "scale and access to market and cost discipline" - may get a second look from investors as Wall Street reviews oil and gas plays beyond prolific shale plays in their own backyard.

SU produced a record 390K bbl/day in July, and its "new normal" would see output shoot up to 420K, First Energy Capital says.

SU is trading at some of the lowest cash flow multiples and, at 80 years, has one of the longest reserve lives in its peer group.

Cenovus (CVE-4%) shares slide after its Q2 misses estimates by a wide margin and the company says 2013 operating costs will be higher than forecast in previous guidance. Total oil output was up 10% Y/Y, but CVE recorded a $57M expense related to the sale of its Shaunavon light oil assets. Guidance on operating costs at its oilsands operations jumps to $3-$3.30/bbl vs. $2.70-$3 earlier.

Cenovus Energy Inc is an integrated oil company. The Company is in the business of developing, producing and marketing crude oil, NGLs and natural gas in Canada with refining operations in the United States.